Halloween Enforcement Efforts

 

HALLOWEEN ENFORCEMENT CAMPAIGN                                                                         
PRESS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 24, 2014

CONTACT: Sgt. Kim Herring, kherring@tompsc.com, 843-884-4176

 

HALLOWEEN PARTIERS BEWARE:

MOUNT PLEASANT POLICE DEPARTMENT

CRACKING DOWN ON DRUNK DRIVERS

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over

 

 

 

 

Mount Pleasant, SC— This Halloween, Mount Pleasant Police will be treating drunk drivers throughout the area with an aggressive Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement effort, and The Mount Pleasant Police Department has given a fair warning to all partygoers: keep the party off the road.

 

“The scariest part of Halloween is not the spooky costumes and scary pranks, it’s the impaired drivers. All too often, partygoers don’t plan ahead and choose to drive impaired, but a costume can’t disguise drunk driving,” said Sgt. Kim Herring.

 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), from 2008-2012, 52 percent of all national fatalities occurring on Halloween night involved a drunk driver.

The last time Halloween fell on a Friday, 48 percent of the nation’s fatalities during the Halloween weekend occurred in a crash involving a driver or a motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. Thirty-eight percent of fatalities on Halloween night occurred in a crash involving a driver or a motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 or higher.

“If you celebrate with alcohol, you don’t belong behind the wheel,” Sgt. Herring said. “A sober and safe ride after the party is the best treat you can give yourself and everyone else on the road this Halloween.”

 

To keep safe this Halloween, The Mount Pleasant Police Department recommends these tips:

·         Before the Halloween festivities begin, plan a way to safely get home at the end of the night.

·         Always designate a sober driver.

·         If you are impaired, take a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation.

·         Walking impaired can be just as dangerous as drunk driving.  Designate a sober friend to walk you home.

·         If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement.

·         If you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make safe travel arrangements to where they are going.

For more information, please visit www.TrafficSafetyMarketing.gov

The Mount Pleasant Police Department will be conducting stepped up enforcement and traffic safety checkpoints in the areas of Hwy 17, Coleman Blvd., and Long Point Rd. on the night of October 31, 2014.